Lessons and Carols question

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Tis_Bearself

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Can some Catholic please enlighten me on how the Lessons and Carols service, which is done in some churches just before the Midnight Mass or vigil Mass on Christmas Eve, and in other churches at some other time during Advent, became a “thing” for Catholics, especially in USA?

My understanding of “Lessons and Carols” is that it was developed by an Anglican clergyman at Kings College, Cambridge, after WWI, for performance by a boys choir, and became a big tradition in UK with the BBC broadcasting it each year. All the time I was growing up as a Catholic in the US Midwest, I never heard of “Lessons and Carols”.

Now, it seems like in the East Coast dioceses, every other Catholic church (as well as many Protestant churches) are all having a “Lessons and Carols” service. I went to one last year and didn’t really know what it was supposed to be. I may go again this year to the one at the Cathedral, but I’m wondering how this Anglican tradition became a big Catholic tradition in USA?

Any explanation would be helpful.
 
The USCCB has published a program for use in Catholic parishes:

http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year/advent/festival-of-lessons-and-carols.cfm

It is simply a lovely service, helps to focus and be still.

For the same reason that we sing hymns written by Protestants, this is a beautiful Advent Tradition and can be celebrated by all Christians. This year our Lessons and Carols was an Ecumenical Service, the local Episcopal congregation brought their choirs, provided some of the readers. Next year we plan to invite 4 area congregations to join. It is a wonderful way to both share our common faith and to evangelize to the community.
 
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In our parish we don’t have Lessons and Carols, but something roughly similar, consisting of several readings from Scripture and corresponding carols, during Advent, not Christmas Eve, and not with a Mass.
 
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Lessons and Carols was started by high-church Anglicans in the late 19th century. Im not sure when and how it became so popular among Catholics. Where I am, we have a very popular Lessons and Carols which I got to sing in this year. It’s beautiful!

The service is just as the name says: lessons and carols. The readings (either 5, 7, or 9) go through salvation history, from Genesis to the prophecies of Christ’s coming to his birth. Each reading is usually followed by two carols, each related in some way to their respective reading. While not an official Catholic Liturgy, it’s become quite popular. I have some friends who look down on Lessons and Carols because it’s not a proper Liturgy, but I think that it has great value to the faithful and is very beautiful when done well. While I’m usually suspicious of Protestant traditions being incorporated into Catholicism, this is one exception, as I find it very edifying and it’s easily adapted for Catholic worship.
 
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The spiritual home of Nine Lessons and Carols is in the Anglican Diocese of Truro in England. Bishop Edward White Benson, the first Bishop of Truro (and later Archbishop of Canterbury) devised the service in 1880. It was first held on Christmas Eve that year - Benson devised the service in part as a diversion to prevent rowdy Christmas celebrations such as pub crawling by the people of Truro. The first service attracted around 400 people in the temporary Cathedral building. (A huge wooden shed!) The first service I believe, comprised a mixture of hymns, carols. scripture readings and excepts from Handel’s Messiah. The service has been modified since then and King’s College has made it a much loved tradition.

The service takes us through nine biblical passages from the old and new testaments which are interspersed with carols. The readings show mankind’s need for a Redeemer – the fall of humanity; the promise of the Messiah; and the birth of Jesus.

At the time Benson devised the service, Cornwall was very much a Methodist stronghold. The new Anglican Diocese of Truro which was carved out of the much larger Diocese of Exeter was rather High Church and diametrically opposite to Methodist churchmanship.

Nine Lessons is a beautiful service and ‘de rigeur’ in my Diocese as the tradition started here. It makes a lovely ecumenical service and we welcome several Methodist, Reformed and Catholic visitors to our little church.
 
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We had Lessons and Carols the 3rd Sunday of Advent in the evening. It was beautiful.
I live in the Southwest and I do remember attending services like this during Advent
when I was an Episcopalian.

The Lessons are about the Incarnation and the Nativity story.
 
Is this USCCB one the same one used by the Anglicans? The beginning appears to be the same.

I don’t mind if it is, as it’s all Scripture-based anyway. I am just curious.
 
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Thanks for that, I didn’t know it went back to 1880. I only ever read about the Kings College one, which has a lot of Youtube and news videos online as well.
 
The only thing I know is that since the early 1900’s it was standard to begin with “Once In Royal David’s City”.
 
Well, if I get to the one at the cathdral tonight, I can compare it to the recordings on Youtube of the Cambridge one from a previous year, and see how similar they are.
 
.The first time I remember Lessons and Carols was when we lived in NY, and it was in the '80s. We moved southward and I never saw it here until last year, but not again this year.

I really liked it and wished we had it. It was not on Christmas Eve, it was earlier during Advent.
 
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Not a fan as I don’t really like carols. Agree that it could bring Christians of different denominations together though.
 
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